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“”Ҳайратон” кўприги Афғонистонга неча миллион фойда келтирмоқда?” is a BBC Uzbek video about rail freight at Hayratan on the border with Uzbekistan, which was published on 30 November 2017. I don’t speak Uzbek so I have no idea what the commentary says, but there is lots of footage of the railway.

“Afghanistan’s once teeming Silk Road border town of Hairatan, a door to Central Asia, sees few travellers these days — its decline a barometer of economic depression in the country’s north”, says AFP.

At this moment a freight train energises its way past me, just to remind me there are other people around. I briefly envisage Ringo Starr belting out a shit Thomas the Tank Engine line. This is truly off the rails though.

A video of the Amo Hairatan Oil Refinery. There are no trains in the video as far as I can see, but a railway siding features from 09:54 and 10:18.

According to its website, Amo Hairatan Refinery LLC was registered in Afghanistan in 2012 by a partnership between citizens of Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. The plant was built on 4 hectares land, and has a monthly capacity of 15,000 tons of Afghan crude, which can be converted into diesel, gasoline, kerosene and furnace fuel oil.

A Radio Bayanshamal video about Hairatan. It is in Pashto (and is also available in Dari) so I don’t know what the commentary says, but it has some footage of TEM2-hauled freight trains and tank wagons.